Electrical Engineering

SPARK YOUR INGENUITY
As an electrical engineering major in the T.J. Smull College of Engineering, you’ll gain a solid foundation in the field. You’ll take courses on electronics, control systems, microprocessors and electric power. If you are interested in a particular area – like communications, power systems or advanced electronics – you can choose from a variety of upper-level elective courses in these areas.
Our academic program is rigorous. Expect to work hard and be challenged. However, we offer a supportive and collaborative environment. Your professors and fellow students in the college will become your friends and family. You will have the opportunity to connect with ONU alumni and they will help you succeed and open doors for you.
Your electrical engineering education will blend coursework with hands-on, real-world learning experiences. You’ll work on team projects and solve engineering challenges for actual clients as early as your first year. You will apply the knowledge you learn in class, but more importantly, you will have the opportunity to hone skills in leadership, teamwork, creativity and entrepreneurship. These skills will help you find a job and land that promotion.
Upon graduation, you’ll be ready for whatever the future holds, whether it’s designing the next generation smartphone, managing projects for a major energy corporation, building robotic systems or even launching your own company!
OPPORTUNITY ABOUNDS
MIGHTY MOUSE A-MAZES
A mouse, a maze, a race to the center. At the Micromouse Competition – sponsored by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) – students design, construct and program an autonomous robotic mouse to compete with other mice in finding the center of a maze within the least amount of time. Held once a year, the competition pits ONU’s team against teams from other engineering schools across the region. In case you’re wondering, the Polar Bears usually capture one of the top competition awards.
GET INVOLVED
Join a professional organization and you’ll learn about opportunities in your field and meet new people. Get involved in ONU’s chapter of the IEEE and open the door to social events – like bowling and pizza night, regional and national engineering competitions, and networking events.

THINK SUCCESS
COURTNEY HETRICK BSEE ’13
I love that I actually use math and calculations. I love having the power to make my own creative design choices. I love the visual layout and routing process of seeing hardware come to life. And I love being in the lab and testing out my designs,” she says. “Electrical engineering offers countless opportunities, and there is a great need for creative, smart young people who want to design the future.
Courtney Hetrick, 2013 electrical engineering graduate, got the most out of her ONU experience. She worked with professors on two different research projects – even presenting a biomedical research paper in Vancouver, Canada, during the ASEE national conference.
She interned at Battelle and GE Healthcare – working on two cool projects related to diabetic insulin pens and large x-ray magnets. She actively participated in IEEE and Tau Beta Pi, an engineering honor society. And, her excellent academic record earned the honor of being the 2013 commencement speaker. Today, Courtney is a hardware design engineer at Rockwell Automation working on printed circuit board assemblies for industrial drive systems.
OUTCOMES AND COURSES
SOLID OUTCOMES
- Our electrical engineering program is accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET, http://www.abet.org.
- Over the last five years, 100 percent of our electrical engineering majors found full-time engineering jobs or enrolled in graduate school within six months of graduation.
- We boast a 100 percent placement rate for students in co-op employment opportunities, which begin in the second semester of the junior year and continue for one year. Our electrical engineering students co-op at well-known companies like Marathon Petroleum, American Electric Power, RoviSys, Timken and Rockwell Automation.
COURSES
You’ll need 128 credit hours to earn your Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering (BSEE). We encourage you to use your elective hours to pursue a minor of your choice or a concentration in advanced energy or robotics that will align with your interests and passions.
Here are some courses you’ll take as an electrical engineering major:
- Calculus
- Physics
- Electric Circuits
- Digital Logic
- Signals and Systems
- Electromagnetics
- Electronics
- Digital Signal Processing
- Control Systems
- Communication Systems
- Energy and Power Systems
- System Design
WHERE COULD YOU END UP?
- Power engineer
- Control systems engineer Telecommunications engineer
- Verification and test engineer
- Digital and analog design engineer
- Project management engineer
- Robotics and automation engineer
Companies that have recently hired our electrical engineering students include American Electric Power, Marathon Petroleum, RoviSys, Crown Equipment and GROB Systems.
Lori Goldsmith
Executive Administrative Assistant419-772-2371
l-goldsmith@onu.edu
Biggs 201
525 South Main Street
Ada, Ohio 45810